Okay, savages is too strong a word. But munchers isn't strong enough.
Opportunists, perhaps?
We have been having deer come by daily now, sometimes several times a day. The days are getting shorter and the nights are cooler. Maybe they sense Fall is coming and they are trying to bulk up now. Earlier this week, in one visit, we had a mamma deer, three adolescents, and two very young ones. Adorable, though I was still glad I had the tomato plants and dry bush beans covered with sheets. They have left little of the sunflowers, nasturtiums, kale, asters, and pansies. They also managed to eat a few tomatoes and part of a large tomato plant that wasn't covered.
Midway through the summer, I potted a little volunteer tomato plant that I couldn't bring myself to compost. The garden was loaded with volunteer tomato plants, volunteer asters, and volunteer sunflowers. The little tomato plant settled in nicely, developing flowers and, eventually, two tomatoes.
To my great disappointment, I went outside a few mornings ago to find that a deer had stripped it bare during the night. Arhg! It looks even more pathetic than Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
To add insult to injury, I also discovered that one of the French pumpkins had been chewed. Deer had never touched our squash or pumpkins before! I covered the pumpkins with several layers of floating row cover, and then harvested them yesterday.
On the upside, they haven't yet discovered this cheerful little "peek-a-boo" sunflower nestled among the tomatoes. :)
